Chiofu
chee-OH-foo (approx.)
The atlas records 41 collection-point forms from Chiofu, across 23 genera.
13.5296°S 34.8672°E
Chiofu is a lakeside village and beach on Chiofu Bay, on Lake Malawi's eastern Malawian shore, about 2 km south of Gome.
Where it is
Chiofu is on the eastern shore of Lake Malawi, in its southern third (280 mi south of the lake's northern tip).
Nearest collection points: Gome 1.3 mi north · Masinje 1.6 mi south-west · Liwani 2.5 mi south
Shore, third and distances are measured from the coordinates above against the lake’s mapped outline.
The water
Lake-wide measured chemistry of Lake Malawi — collection points share their lake's water; site-specific figures are shown only where the literature records them.
Nearest measured station: Monkey Bay (south basin) (~55 km) — Visibility (Secchi) 12.5 m
This site
Surface temperature here
Across Apr–Nov, monthly means run 75 °F to 81 °F — coolest in Jul. Measured by satellite 1995–2023: the daily median of clear readings within 10 km of the site (1330 clear days). The rainy-season months are usually too cloudy to measure and are left blank.
Temperature: ESA Climate Change Initiative, Lakes_cci v3.0 (Asfour et al. 2026; doi:10.5285/a56dba09df8a42ec9fba8b8c7a5e1f69). Chemistry on this page remains the lake's own.
The site
Site photographs show a beach village on the bay, with Gome and its namesake offshore rock lying just to the north.
Each entry below is the population of that species recorded here — the form aquarists keep and breed as a distinct, provenance-labelled line. Crossing forms from different collection points is considered hybridisation in the hobby.